


the prodigal son

by tcnystcnks



Series: the aftermath [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Depressed Tony Stark, Gen, I just wrote it as them taking comfort in each other, IronDad and SpiderSon, Not A Fix-It, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Self-Hatred, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but honestly, its up to interpretation, slight May/Tony if you squint, that can be platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 22:34:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18433484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tcnystcnks/pseuds/tcnystcnks
Summary: it takes him 6 trips before May opens the door and lets him up--or, how Tony and May (try to) put themselves back together again





	the prodigal son

**Author's Note:**

> there's been this general belief since iw that May would react really negatively to Tony after the snap, but after those pages from the companion book to the films came out; I kind of just thought that May would just see someone else who was in pain; just like her
> 
> after all, everyone had lost someone sure, but nobody else really knew what it was like to lose *Peter*

It takes him 30 days to recover. 

Well, it takes him 30 days before he has just about enough strength to prop himself up on crutches and move long enough to get out of the hospital and into the first cab he could hail, but that’s good enough for him

He hobbles into the backseat, raps on the window to snap the driver out of his funk and says, “Downtown Queens,” wincing at how rough his throat was

“Ri -Right,” the driver stutters, “Of course Mr. Stark I’m sorry I’m just-”

He trails off for a blissful 5 minutes, before he starts up again

“It’s just, well, we all thought you were dead Mr Stark”

“Yeah, so did I”

\--

He makes the trip about 5 times, always pushing himself up the four flights of stairs and freezing outside the door, breath catching in his throat

\--

The sixth time, Aunt May swings the door open before his fist can awkwardly freeze in the motion of knocking

There’s a pregnant silence before she says, “I’m sorry I just, I couldn’t see you come up and not knock again”

He can’t help it, he flinches

“You knew I’ve been coming?”

“I have uh, I have the door monitored just in case”

She steps aside, and he pushes his way in, and makes in until the edge of the couch before he collapses on the floor, the room closing in on him as he struggles to breathe

_he’s right there, walking in with a godawful hoodie and, is that an apple phone?_

_god he’s just a kid, not even out of highschool what the hell is he doing swinging around in pyjamas??_

_he plays with the cookie in his hand, lets the aunt tease her nephew a bit_

_“Hello Mr Parker” he stutters and stumbles and god, he’s so young he can barely cross his arms around his chest without fumbling_

_“Hey I’m Peter”_

_“Tony”_

_“Tony”_

_Tony”_

“hey TONY!” there’s a hand on his shoulder, and it jars him back to reality

He’s in a fetal position against a wall, and May’s looking over him; glass of water in hand

He takes the water with a small smile, a tiny raise of his lips, pushes himself up and makes his way over to the couch

“Still hard to believe you’re someone’s aunt,” Tony says and its such a cop out, a desperate plea

“We come in all shapes and sizes,” she lets him have it

\--

It takes three more trips before he can sit on the sofa without a panic attack

May says that’s progress, Tony thinks its a perverse form of torture

\--

“He died in my arms you know,” he says, preamble of nothing and May breaks her glass

There’s a flurry of movement as Tony tries to help clean up with his crutches and May actually cleans up with her perfectly healthy body

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have -” his breath rattles around his ribcage, “I shouldn’t have said it like that”

“how” her voice was a whisper, but it wouldn’t have mattered, because Tony was going to tell this anyway, he wanted to,  _needed to_

“Thanos had just, none of knew where he went. Strange exchanged my life for the Time Stone, colossally stupid move i know-”

he’s been subconsciously brushing against the stab wound and he doesn’t realise until she clasps his hand, “not stupid”

He tries to smile, but he’s pretty sure it comes out as a grimace

“We didn’t know where he’d gone, and then we  _felt_  it. This ripple of, power. And then everyone just, fell to dust”

“I want to say he went peacefully, but he looked up at me, and he said ‘Mr Stark I don’t feel so good’“

“And I’m watching, I’m watching his body  _fight_  against whatever it is Thanos did and he falls into my arms and i-”

“I held onto him, squeezed him tight like it would force him back together and he wouldn’t turn to dust like the rest of them”

He’s sobbing, curled up against May and clinging to her whispering  _i’m sorry_  over and over because he doesn’t know what else to say

\--

“He loved you, you know,” May hands him a photo of the two of them that Tony had made him take after Germany, back when May didn’t know about the spandex side gig

“The day you took the suit from him, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that crushed”

The Stark internship form is held upside down, and Peter had widely overestimated how tall Tony is when he’s put up the bunny ears- but he’s so  _happy_  in that photo

“He wasn’t my kid,” Tony says,”he wasn’t my kid I know that. You were the one that raised him and I was just the exuberant billionaire who dropped in occasionally to make him feel special, but he was-”

“he was mine”

\--

They spend an entire day, just going through this stuff, and there’s this single moment when May can’t take it and she crumbles against Tony

It’s the first time that she’s been the one to breakdown instead of him, so he just rearranges them so that they’re curled on the bed, presses his lips to her forehead, and lets her cry

\--

“I don’t blame you,” she says one day and he smiles and replies, “I do that enough for the both of us”

_Fin_

 

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr saw it first](https://desitonystark.tumblr.com/post/184111396622/the-prodigal-son-okay-so-theres-been-a-lot-of)   
>  [my ig](https://www.instagram.com/tcnystcnks/)   
> 


End file.
